James, Meet My Little Sister Emily
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Oneshot following A Difference is Made- Serena wants James to meet Emily.


_Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers: Samurai_

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><p>Saturday was normally a day to relax. After morning training, the Rangers were free to do what they wanted and go where they wanted.<p>

Until Serena walked into the common room.

"Guys, can we clean this place up a bit?" she asked and as the Octozord flew over her head she caught it, "James is coming over for lunch."

"Again?" Mike asked.

Jayden looked to Serena, "If you keep inviting him, he's going to turn into your Amanda."

Serena nodded her head, "I know, I know, but it's hard liking a guy and telling him he's not allowed for a visit. Besides… I'm thinking of telling him."

Jayden's jaw dropped. Kevin spit out his cereal. Mia's spoon slipped from her hand. Mike's video game character died on screen. Antonio choked on his breakfast and Emily seemed horrified.

Serena backed up slightly, "Wow… you guys don't have to all cheer at once…"

"You're thinking of telling him?" Jayden asked.

Emily counted on her fingers, "Spike, Amanda, now James?"

"That's a lot of people," Mia nodded her head, "I'm not even comfortable with Spike and Amanda knowing."

"Things are getting serious between us," Serena shrugged her shoulders, "I don't want what happened to Amanda to happen to him. I don't want to lie to him anymore. I don't want to put him in danger. If he's going to run away, it might as well be before the L-word comes out."

"You have to be able to trust him, Serena," Kevin looked to the older Earth Samurai, "My dad only ever told my mother he was a Samurai Ranger, and he waited until after she agreed to marry him!"

"I can put a little more thought into it," Serena said.

"Please," the Samurai all begged. Serena gave them a look.

"But I don't like lying to him. And he's still coming here. He'll start to wonder what's up if I never let him come over. We've got to take a few risks to stay on the safe side."

Serena let go of Octozord, "Spread the news to the others, buddy. Play in the laundry room today."

Octozord flew off. The Rangers finished their breakfast and got ready to meet James.

-Samurai-

James pulled into the drive way. It was a long drive getting up to where Serena lived but James did like how peaceful it was outside the city. He could understand why they liked to live out here.

He picked up his Tupperware from the passenger seat. When he had arranged this lunch with Serena she had insisted he didn't need to bring anything, but he was coming to meet "the most important thing in (her) life," as she had put it. He had to make a good impression.

So he had made ice-cream sandwiches out of chocolate chip cookies and either vanilla or chocolate ice-cream. Serena had mentioned ice-cream and cookies were Emily's favourite, so he was hoping he could win a few points with her there. She was, after all, the one he really had to impress, and the only one he hadn't gotten the chance to meet.

He was nervous as ever as he walked up to the door and ran the bell. He heard barking, but then Serena must have remembered he was scared of dogs because the barking stopped.

The door opened and she greeted him with a kiss. When they parted, he looked over her shoulder and saw everyone was standing in the hallway to greet him as well.

"You've met Uncle Ji, Jayden, Mike, Kevin, Mia, and Antonio," Serena said as she pointed down the line of Samurai. James nodded his head.

"It's nice to see you all again."

Serena then pulled Emily forward, "This is my little monster."

James shook her head, "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You too," Emily whispered, a little nervous as well. She knew James was here to impress her, but that didn't stop him from silently judging her, and he already knew about her little incident with Howie.

James held out his Tupperware, "Serena said I didn't need to bring anything, but I had some extra time last night."

Emily lifted the lid on the Tupperware and peeked inside. James saw her eyes light up as she snatched the container from his hands and raced off to the kitchen.

"We can't let them melt!"

James chuckled and looked to Serena, "Home-made ice-cream sandwiches."

Serena rolled her eyes, "Kiss-ass."

"Isn't that what you invited me here for?" James playfully replied.

Kevin whispered to Mia, "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Is that what we look like?" Mia asked.

-Samurai-

James was sitting around the table trading stories with Serena's family. He was having a really good time. Her friends and family were easy to get along with, though he was being careful with what he did and what he said. The last thing he wanted was to leave the house and have them try and convince Serena she could do better.

Then it happened. Terran, Serena's son, started to cry and she had to get up to feed him. Because James would never get in the way of a mother and her child, he had to let her go.

But that meant he was alone with her family. He gulped. Suddenly, ice-cream sandwiches didn't seem like enough. Everyone fell silent, unsure of what to say now that Serena was gone.

James poked at his chicken, "The food's great…"

"Why do you like my sister?" Emily asked bluntly.

James looked over to her, "She's nice and…"

"Mia's nice. Antonio's nice."

"Emily," Kevin said in a warning tone. She shrugged her shoulders.

"What? A lot of people are nice. I wanna know why he likes my sister."

Mike looked to James, "You haven't even met the father, yet."

"Do I want to?" James asked. He turned back to Emily, "Your sister's special."

"I know that," Emily said.

Mia gave Emily a look, "He doesn't have to profess his feelings for her now, in front of all of us."

"It's an easy question," Emily said, "Why do you like my sister? Why did you pick her? Normally young, single moms aren't what guys like you look for. So why do you like her?"

"In other words," Mike translated, "What are your intentions with her sister?"

James looked Emily right in the eye, "I'm not messing with her. I really do like her. She's the first person in years to walk into our school and do something about all our problems. She cares for the kids."

"How long have you been working at the school?"

"A couple of years…" James suddenly felt very nervous when he realised he got himself caught in a trap.

"So you don't care about the kids?"

"I meant…"

"Why do you like her?"

James' eyes shifted back and forth. When Emily asked the question it sounded simple, but it was anything but. After all, why did he like her? He was physically attracted to her, and she was good to talk to. She was nice, caring, and strong. But he couldn't give Emily an answer like that. She would either ask for more or, if he told her he found her physically attractive, he was scared he was going to leave with a broken nose.

"Well?" Emily asked when James didn't answer. He just looked over to her. She seemed to be getting impatient, "My sister really, really likes you, you know."

"And I really, really like her."

"Why?"

"She's amazing."

"I know," Emily said and then pushed away from the table and got up. She stormed out of the room. James looked around nervously. Had he blown it?

"I…"

"You know how she likes cookies and ice-cream?" Mike asked James, "Well, even though she sees Serena every day, she'd still give both of those up, and more, for a minute with her Serena. There's not much she wouldn't give up for a minute with her sister."

"Serena's last boyfriend… wasn't a good guy," Mia explained, "He hurt all of us at least once before, while, and after he and Serena dated. He hurt Emily and Serena the most though. Emily hated how he hurt Serena; Serena hated how he hurt Emily. If Serena can trust anyone to be near Emily, it means she trusts them a lot."

"Emily's not a stupid kid," Antonio continued, "She knows that. So she wants to make sure Serena trusts the right people. Not because she's scared of getting hurt. She's scared Serena's going to get hurt. So the question's simple but…"

"Until you die without ever wronging Serena once, you'll never have the right answer for Emily," Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "But that doesn't mean you don't still have a shot."

James nodded his head and got up from the table, "Excuse me."

The house was big, he quickly realised that, but he finally thought he found where Emily was hiding and knocked on the door.

"What?" he heard her say. He opened the door and walked right in.

"Your sister's breathtaking," he said and Emily gave him the dirtiest look he imagined she could give but he pushed on, "I thought she was hot when I first saw her. It did kind of creep me out that she was pregnant, but when I heard she was single… I knew I had two choices. I could write her off because, well, you're right; most guys my age don't want to become step-fathers. We want to sleep with the pretty girls, no strings attached."

"Get…"

"But I had a feeling she was really special and if I wrote her off because she was pregnant I was probably going to miss out on something. I like kids anyways; I want to start my own family someday; should the fact that she already had a kid scare me off? I figured no. So I let myself like her a little more. I befriended her and she started off being everything I thought she was. Then she stopped coming to school. Mitch had yelled at her so I thought maybe I was wrong and I gave up on her. Biggest mistake of my life. Then she came back and told me she had given birth. She had the right to take her maternity leave, but she came back for Mitch and for the school. She knew where she was needed and she knew what she had to do. I doubt Terran's ever suffered because his mother worked. You must take amazing care of him."

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

James chuckled, "I'm just… Your sister had so many reasons to leave that school but she always came back. Despite the odds, she always came back. She puts others first but she can take care of herself. She's loving, she's kind, but she's one of the toughest people I know. And she obviously cares a lot about you, which speaks volumes. She never has to pretend around you. You're her sister. You know what she's really like. The fact that she does really care about you tells me all I need to know about her. I was right, she is an amazing woman. I can't promise you anything, Emily. I don't know where my relationship with her is going, but I have no intention of hurting her like her last boyfriend did. And if I do ever hurt her, I'm going to be a real man about it. I'll take responsibility for my actions. If you want to break my nose, go for it."

Emily shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not allowed."

James smiled, "You learned your lesson, I see."

"A big lesson," Emily nodded her head and then looked up at James, "Thanks for being honest."

"So, am I in the clear? May I continue dating your sister?"

"I don't know…"

"In case you didn't have enough time to count," James smirked, "I did make ten ice-cream sandwiches. One for everyone and an extra for you."

Emily let out a deep breath and smiled, "Alright, you can date my sister. You seem like a good guy."

"But…"

"If you hurt her I will hunt you down and kill you."

James was still for a moment. He had no idea whether it was extremely cute that Emily thought she could be terrifying, or if he was actually terrified. She was serious, he could tell, and he had seen her beat the shit out of Howie. If she wanted, she could kill him, he was sure.

"I will take that as my only warning," he said.

Emily jumped off her bed and grabbed his arm, "Good, now c'mon! If we don't get to the ice-cream sandwiches now Mike will eat my extra one!"


End file.
